Wire ropes are used in a variety of industrial applications. A wire rope is a type of rope with strands of metal or steel wire laid or twisted into a helix around a core. This core can be one of three types. The first is a fiber core, made up of synthetic or natural material. Fiber cores are the most flexible and elastic, but are easily crushed and thus not suitable for heavy loads. The second type, wire strand core, is made up of one additional strand of wire, and is typically used for suspension. The third type is independent wire rope core, which is the most durable in all types of environments. Such ropes are suitable for running ropes.
Processes exist that are designed to improve the qualities of a wire rope. For example, it is known to swage or compact a wire rope after closing the outer strands over the core, or to swage or compact the outer strands before closing the rope. It is also known to flatten the outside of a wire rope core to allow an outer strand to contact two or more wires of the core strands at once, thus preventing the outer strand from being displaced into the space between the core strands under a heavy load.